Report Cards for the Heart

Lydia got her 3rd report card yesterday. And as with the last two report cards, I am busting my buttons with my smart and thriving little girl! She received all E’s for Excellent in her classes. And the most important part to me–E’s in her behavior.

I don’t know what normal report cards look like, but I love that her school values things like obedience and self-control. And if you’ve been around around awhile, you know how self-control has been a big deal for us and for Lydia. Self-control has been something we’ve memorized scriptures about, prayed about and talked about for years. Self-control has been the cornerstone of teaching her about fear, obedience and anger.

So to see (and for Lydia herself to hear) that she has shown EXCELLENT self-control at school is beyond encouraging. It’s like we’ve come to the place we never thought we’d get! I know she’s only 6 and this is only kindergarten. She’ll have plenty of opportunities in her life to struggle with self-control but for now, this is a victory for us!

I wish you could have seen her when she got that first report card. When I read “Self-Control: EXCELLENT” she was practically hiding under the table she was so shy/proud/stop-looking-at-me-embarassed! It also taught me a big lesson. Sometimes I get so focused on what she does wrong (trying to help her, etc.) that I forget to praise her when she does it right or conquers it!

I was thinking it would be fun if we made little “heart report cards” for our kids sometimes. Maybe when we see they are doing good, give them a little card that says, “You are showing EXCELLENT self-control!” or “Your obedience is OUTSTANDING!” or “I can see that you are WORKING HARD to be brave!” or “A++ for LOVING your family this week!”. What a fun affirmation and gift for your kids!

I found this cute blank report card online this morning. I just printed it out and am going to think of some specific (and funny things) to “grade” the kids on. I’ll set it at their places at lunch today and see what they think. Check the Facebook page later today to see how they liked it! And if you do one for your kids, show us on the Facebook page, too!

Comments

We are working through Clay Clarkson’s 24 family ways, and there are some leading questions in the studies, and through those, we’ve been able to remember how important it is to encourage the Godly behavior. One of the first weeks we all had to go around and say something nice about each person – and the boys were GLOWING. It was amazing. I’m really try to verbalize it more – they need to hear that more than the criticism…